Clams with sake, tomatoes, and scallions

A couple of years ago, I had clams steamed in sake at a Japanese restaurant far from home (and had them a second time before flying back home). Husband found this recipe for asari sakamushi (steamed clams with soy, butter and garlic) so he could make them for me at home. He's made it for us several times (cutting the sake to 1 1/2 cups and the butter to 2 tablespoons).

Tonight we decided to add some cherry tomatoes when we started to steam the clams.

It turned out very well. The tomatoes added to the dish, especially the broth.

The littleneck clams came from Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury. Tomatoes are from my mom's garden. Scallions are from Siena Farms. We ate the clams with kale oshitashi.

What's in the box, 8/21/14 edition

The veggies this week are very colorful: fairy tale eggplants, kale, persian cucumbers, arugula, radishes, beets, fennel, and potatoes.

The box of tomatoes is also extremely colorful.

I've already made some gazpacho and kale oshitashi. I'm planning to grill the eggplants this weekend, some to eat right off the grill and others to make into baba ganoush. One of the cucumbers might be grilled as well, after reading that recipe that included grilled cucumbers. And we'll be having tomatoes with every meal, of course.

Kale oshitashi

A few weeks ago, I made chard oshitashi. Tonight I tried making it with kale.

Wash the kale and remove the stems. Give it a rough chop.

Boil the kale for 4 minutes, drain it, then put it into an ice bath.

After the kale cools, drain it again and squeeze off the excess water. Dress with soy sauce and let marinate in the fridge until ready to eat. Just before eating, sprinkle on sesame seeds.

While it has more texture than the chard oshitashi, it's a good preparation for kale as well.

Links: veggie burgers, summer squash, and overnight oats

This recipe for zucchini quinoa burgers from Food52 looks good. We're having a cookout this weekend, which makes me wonder if the patties could be grilled, as the recipe only talks about frying or baking. The recipe was linked from another Food52 post, on making veggie burgers without a recipe.

Yesterday, the Boston Globe had a recipe for roasted squash with za'atar, dill yogurt, and peanuts. Another summer squash recipe that looks interesting is Food52's raw squash salad with radishes, manchego, and lemon vinaigrette.

I've been brewing iced tea overnight a lot lately. We've been making cold brewed coffee for iced coffee as well. The natural progression would seem to be making breakfast by letting it sit overnight in the fridge. The Crepes of Wrath has a recipe for overnight cherry-almond oats.

Gazpacho

I don't use a recipe to make gazpacho. I start with some mix of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions/scallions, and sometimes radishes, depending upon what I have in the house.

I was planning to use my new blender, so I left the skin on the cucumber. I also used the white part of four scallions.

The blender was a bit overstuffed.

I also added a bit of olive oil (probably 1-2 tablespoons), balsamic vinegar (also 1-2 tablespoons), and salt. You could use lime juice in place of the balsamic vinegar, but make sure to add acidity in some form. Taste the soup as you're adding the salt and acidity to get the right levels.

The difference between the food processor and the new blender is that the blender made the gazpacho much smoother than the food processor ever did. I decided to add some texture to the gazpacho by adding raw corn kernels. I bought three ears of corn, shucked them, cut off the kernels, and added them to the gazpacho.

The gazpacho turned out well, but not as red as other times. Three green peppers and the cucumber skin, as well as the dark balsamic vinegar, gave it a darker tone. Still tasted good. If you want redder gazpacho, cut back on the green pepper and skin your cucumber.

Some recipes call for the addition of tomato juice, which would make it more red, but I prefer to use all fresh vegetables in my gazpacho.

The gazpacho will last for a few days in the refrigerator.

Couscous with grilled vegetables

We grilled veggies again. New to the grill this week are fairy tale eggplants and Hungarian hot wax peppers.

We had some veggies left over, which I put into the fridge overnight. The next day, I made some couscous and chopped up the leftovers. (Note: husband had eaten all of the hot peppers the night before. I wouldn't have included them if we had them left.)

Pour some boiling water over some raisins to rehydrate them a bit.

When the couscous is finished, stir in the chopped veggies, drained raisins, and some nuts for crunch. I used almonds this time. Pecans would also be good. Dried cranberries would be a good substitute for the raisins as well. Or dried cherries. Experiment.

You could also add some feta cheese if you'd like. I won't tell anyone.

I like the salad on the cold to room temperature side, so I don't warm up the veggies. If you want to have everything warm, heat up the veggies before mixing everything together.

Veggies for breakfast: tomatoes and peas

It's time for another veggies for breakfast post. With tomato season starting, they've been making many appearances on my breakfast plates recently.

Here I fried two eggs in olive oil, then served them on top of thick slices of a tomato with some rye bread on the side.

While visiting friends, we had breakfast tacos with chopped tomatoes, scrambled eggs, and avocado on top of corn tortillas.

A few days ago, I made nectarine and blueberry pancakes for breakfast for weekend visitors. A guest suggested trying tomato pancakes with the bit of batter left at the end.

They were not good, likely because the pancake batter was sweet, not savory. But everyone tried a piece and no tomatoes were wasted. We figure it might work with a more savory pancake batter, although I generally prefer local tomatoes to be uncooked.

Pea season is long past, but I also used them for breakfasts as well. Here are peas atop of a soft boiled egg, cooked sous vide.

And here's the start of a pea and feta frittata, which ended up turning into pea and feta scrambled eggs since I was having trouble getting the eggs to set before the bottom browned too much.

May not have been as pretty, but tasted good.